He discourages his employees from “complete sobriety” during company time and packs a breathalyzer in his brief case. No, he isn’t your mom’s creepy new boyfriend, he is Sam Adams CEO Jim Koch. Jim discusses this radical managerial style in a recent interview with FHM Magazine and also provides a strong argument that could be used to support the common theory that beer enhances softball skills:

“FHM: Why were [America's founding fathers] always drinking?
Koch: Sanitation. The biggest sources of death back then were waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. There was no Gatorade, so beer was their major source of hydration. Plus, they used to leave more yeast in it, which meant more nutrients. It was food for them.”

(Crap! Does this classify beer as a performance enhancing drug? Oh well, consider me Barry Bonds!)

Read the whole FHM interview here >

Jimmy Kimmel is far from being the highest rated show in the US, but if more people knew about skits like this, it would do a lot better:

Like most guys my age, I collected baseball cards as a kid. Starting in the late 80’s, I feverishly collected every Will Clark card in existence (I know, not the most logical of choices…). I estimate that I’ve got some 500,000+ cards on lock-down in my parents home, but what is that massive card collection worth today? Next to nothing according to Slate columnist Dave Jamieson:

“Our parents, who lost a small fortune when their parents threw out all those Mantles and Koufaxes, made sure we didn’t put our Griffeys and Ripkens in our bicycle spokes or try washing them in the bathtub… [ensuring] our overproduced cards would never become valuable.”

Now, its not enough to just collect cards, you have to get them rated and make sure they never see the light of day. If a card isn’t certifiably mint, you may as well use it as a coaster. The world of baseball card collecting was destroyed by value. When our parents were kids, they collected cards to see their favorite players and trade with friends. When we bought them, we had visions of fortunes and prayed every day that Shawn Green would have an all-star season.

Today, that fortune is barely worth more than the paper the cards were printed on. Looks like I’ll have to rely on my comic book collection to put my kids through college.

Bill Simmons is on to something. Fantasy football owners are constantly having to explain their league’s rules to other owners prior to discussing a coaching move or trade. If FF owners band together and adopt a universal set of rules, the fantasy sports world would be a happier, less confusing place.

Some of his ideas are a bit out there. His “3 strike” rule would be difficult to enforce and damn near impossible to keep track of. But his scoring methodologies are dead on:

- Limited number of teams (10 or 12)
- 15 man rosters with 10 starters (QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, TE, K, DEF and a restricted “10th-man” spot)
- Bonus points for exceptional performances
- More defense points (”Defenses don’t matter enough in fantasy. In what other scenario is a tight end more important than all 11 guys on the opposing defense”)
- Negative points for bone-head QB plays (i.e. Interception returned for a TD).

Other key ideas include an unbiased outside trade committee to approve/reject questionable trades, a weekly waiver auction to prevent bad teams from getting great pickups because of waiver priority, a drinkfest the night of the trade deadline and a full, 17-week regular season/redraft post-season.

Simmons’ ideas are dead on, but current FF tools lack the flexibility needed to implement many of his rules. It may be time to go back to in-person drafts, phone call trades and manual-newspaper-and-a-pencil scoring… well, maybe not that far.

Barbecuing and summer go together like bikinis and hot chicks and Manroom figured it was a good time to feature some innovative gadgets to spice up your summer parties:

The Tote-A-Keg Portable Draught System – $159 (beer not included)
Taking the BBQ to the park or tailgate party? Need a portable keg? This is your lucky day!

Transparent propane tank – $TBD
Any man worth his weight in gas can judge the fullness of a propane tank by picking it up, but transparent propane tanks are a bit more accurate. Always remember, when in doubt, fill it up… a man never runs out of propane in the middle of a BBQ.

The Beer Machine 2000 – $112
Beer Machine 2000 kicks regular Beer Machine’s ass with a “heavy duty clamping system,” a built-in pressure gauge and 2 pub-style taps. Woo hoo!

Woodflame Gusto Grill – $225
A portable grill with more fire power than your backyard Weber.

Kohler Home Urinals – $130+
Get that bathroom line moving at your next fantasy football draft with an in-home urinal.

Mas Mejor Mojito Set – $39.99
If you’re as intrigued as I am by the females in the Bacardi mojito commercial, you’ve been craving one too. You may as well make it in style with this spiffy set.

It’s been a long time since we were excited about a movie, but Beerfest looks like something we can enjoy. The premise is simple–a group of American friends “stumble upon the super-secret, centuries old, underground beer games competition—Beerfest—the secret Olympics of beer drinking.”

From the directors of Super Troopers the trailer sets Beerfest up a lot like Dodgeball with beer, except that the competition is “secret”… sounds like a winning combination to me. Beerfest hits theatres on August 25th.

Just when you thought 60-inches was big enough for your living room, Matsushita announces a 103-inch plasma screen TV! The behemoth weighs 475 pounds and is larger than a double-sized mattress. The set is due out this Christmas and no price has been announced, but considering current plasma TVs are going for about $500 per inch Manroom estimates the 103-incher to start at about $55,000.

Why watch the 2006 Home Run Derby on your TV when you can watch it live in Second Life? Manroom recently ventured into this strange virtual world and now Major League Baseball is having a go. This year’s Home Run Derby will be simulcasted into the world of Second Life and will feature live streaming video, scoreboards, and a real-time 3D re-enactment of the derby.

Tickets to the “game” are about $4 proving once again that your real life sucks compared to Second Life.

When I was a teenager I told my best friend Wayne to shoot me if I ever bought a minivan. Break out your shotgun Wayne. Apparently, there comes a time in every man’s life between getting married and death that it becomes practical to drive a minivan. That time came with the birth of my daughter. I reluctantly purchased a Toyota Sienna LX, 7 passenger, 18 cup-holder van, but I am finally coming around to it.

Minivans are vehicles built for (and marketed to) the 21st century family–all of the amenities of a luxury vehicle in a kid proof box on wheels. But what elements of a minivan actually make it appealing to a self-respecting man? Even the name “minivan” conjures up negative feelings. Why couldn’t they call it the “manlyvan” or “hotbikinichickvan”? Regardless of the name, the minivan is anything but with room for 7-8 passengers, gear, roof-racks and hundreds of storage compartments. Everywhere you look, designers have thought about your family–trash bag hinges, cup holders galore, DVD players, chairs that fold into picnic tables, baby changing surfaces or are completely removable and much more.

So what made me choose the Sienna? The differences between the various brands are pretty slight. Everyone offers the same features, but it came down mostly to brand loyalty and recognition. Toyota has held a special place in my heart ever since my parents bought one and Toyota’s reputation for longevity and reliability pushed them over the top.

Here’s some parting words of advice for any man ready to take the plunge into the world of minivans. First, buy a neutral color–it’s bad enough that you are buying a minivan, do you really want to be rocking a pink one? Second, splurge for some of the added features–the DVD player or automatic sliding doors will distract your friends from the fact you’re driving a minivan. Finally, don’t try to over compensate by nicknaming your van. A name like “Pimp Wagon” will only draw more attention to the vehicle you’re driving… trust me.

While this may sound like a place for random sad people to post random things about their life it’s actually a pretty cool store with random stuff lost by now sad people. Unclaimed Baggage has everything from movie props to Barbie Dolls stuffed with cash. Airlines lose a lot of luggage and apparently sell them to these people to make a profit off of your lost junk. A selection of items can be purchased online, but you’ll need to head to Scottsboro, Alabama to check out everything this unique store has to offer. The website itself is worth a visit from the inquisitive surfer.